Busway electrical distribution systems are well known in the art of electrical distribution. Busway systems are comprised of a number of factory assembled sections each including a number of individually insulated generally flat electrical conductors or busbars stacked one upon another and enclosed within a housing which provides protection and support for the busbars. For example, typical busway systems have 10-foot sections of flat, stacked, electrical conductors for transporting electrical energy from a point A to a point B, while distributing the electrical energy to various electrical loads. Busway construction is modular and, in many ways, is superior to cable and conduit systems from an installation standpoint.
For distribution of the electrical energy, the busway sections include one or more plug-in outlets having a plurality of conductive stabs. In general, the plug-in outlets include openings that are provided through the housing of the busway system at each of a plurality of power tap-off sections to expose conductive material of the busbars for connection with an appropriate connecting jaw. A plug-in unit, which is used to tap off power from the busway, is attached to a base in the plug-in opening by mounting a plurality of jaws to a corresponding stab, which extends from a respective busbar.
Present busway systems, however, fail to provide an efficient, cost-effective, and simple solution for installing plug-in units having different electrical load requirements (i.e., different ampacities). To install plug-in units of different ampacities, present busway systems must use different jaws, based on the respective load requirement. For example, the same jaw may be used for a load requirement of 30 Amperes, 60 Amperes, and 100 Amperes, but a different jaw must be used for a load requirement of 250 Amperes and 400 Amperes. Thus, one problem associated with the need for different jaws is that it increases manufacturing costs, wherein different jaws require different manufacturing tooling. Another problem associated with present jaws is that they typically provide a single line of contact per each side of the corresponding stab, wherein the line of contact may result in a single contact point based on alignment problems. These problems may be present in various electrical products, such as switchboards, panelboards, loadcenters, switchgears, circuit breakers, and others.
What is needed, therefore, is a jaw module for a plug-in unit of a busway system that addresses the above-stated and other problems.